?-Compact Space

Now pack into that tiny, tiny space about an ounce of matter. Excellent. You are ready to start a universe. IБЂ™m assuming of course that you wish to build an inflationary universe. If youБЂ™d prefer instead to build a more old-fashioned, standard Big Bang universe, youБЂ™ll need additional materials. In fact, you will need to gather up everything there is-every last mote and particle of matter between here and the edge of creation-and squeeze it into a spot so infinitesimally compact that it has no dimensions at all. It is known as a singularity. In either case, get ready for a really big bang. Naturally, you will wish to retire to a safe place to observe the spectacle. Unfortunately, there is nowhere to retire to because outside the singularity there is no where. When the universe begins to expand, it wonБЂ™t be spreading out to fill a larger emptiness. The only space that exists is the space it creates as it goes. It is natural but wrong to visualize the singularity as a kind of pregnant dot hanging in a dark, boundless void ...»